Damage caused by northern gales

An overturned lorry closed the Redheugh bridge on Tyneside

Winds gusting up to 84mph have battered parts of the North East and Cumbria, causing lorries to overturn and structural damage to properties.

The two main bridges between Gateshead and Newcastle were closed because of a crashed lorry and unsafe lampposts.

Police closed part of Durham City when a section of a university building roof was torn off.

Motorists on the M6 in Cumbria faced delays when a lorry was blown over near Southwaite. The driver escaped injury.

A woman had a lucky escape in Whitley Bay, when the side of her house was blown down when she was inside. Structural engineers are assessing the damage.

The A1 was also shut to high-sided vehicles at Stannington, near Morpeth in Northumberland, after another lorry overturned.

The damaged house in Whitley Bay

Road users in Gateshead and Newcastle faced big delays as police said an operation to recover two stricken lorries on the Redheugh Bridge could not be undertaken until high winds eased.

The Tyne Bridge was also closed for a time, when it emerged a lamppost was unsafe.

A spokeswoman for Tyne and Wear Fire Brigade said it received scores of calls reporting unsafe buildings and overhead cables.

Passengers on the Tyne and Wear Metro were faced with big delays after winds disrupted overhead power cables at Pelaw on Tuesday evening.

In Durham, police said the city's Old Elvet area was expected to be closed until Wednesday because of the damage to the university roof.

The Newton Cap viaduct in Bishop Auckland was also closed to high-sided vehicles, because of gusting winds.

A weather station at Newcastle Airport recorded the highest gust of the day in the region at 84mph.

Winds were forecast to become easier in the early hours of Wednesday.